More than 2,100 people have been arrested as pro-Palestinian protests continue to sweep college campuses across the United States.
The US has seen a growing backlash against the war in Gaza in recent weeks, with dozens of arrests made on Thursday at university campuses in both New York and Los Angeles.
Protesters threw teargas canisters as they clashed at pro-Palestinian encampments in LA, hours after police had forcibly cleared a similar protest in New York.
At the University of California, Los Angeles, vice-chancellor Mary Osako said: "Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight."
On social media, there were reports that pro-Israel demonstrators started attacking the pro-Palestinian camp at the university.
Some protesters wearing masks arrived in the middle of the night and attempted to tear down barricades, before fighting with members of the rival group. Pro-Israel counter-protesters threw objects including "fireworks, a scooter, water bottles and tear gas".
Earlier, at Columbia University in New York, police arrested protesters nearly 24 hours after they took over an academic building.
NYPD officers entered the occupied Hamilton Hall through a second-storey window using ladders before making numerous arrests.
One student said about "80 to 100" police officers had stormed the hall, with local reports claiming that flash-bang devices were used to disorient protesters.
Meanwhile, police have cleared protest encampments at other US colleges, leading to further arrests.
It comes as the pro-Palestinian protests spread to universities in other countries including Canada and Australia.
Quebec’s premier said a protest encampment at Montreal’s McGill University should be dismantled.
“We want the camp to be dismantled. We trust the police, let them do their job,” a spokesperson for Francois Legault said.
McGill University has requested police intervention, but law enforcement officials have yet to clear the encampment and said in a statement on Thursday that it was monitoring the situation.
Students have also set up encampments at the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia and the University of Ottawa.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people protesting the war in Gaza rallied at one of Australia's top universities onFriday demanding it divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Activists set up an encampment outside the sandstone main hall at University of Sydney, one of Australia's largest tertiary institutions.
Similar camps have emerged at universities in Melbourne, Canberra, and other Australian cities. In contrast to the US, where police have forcibly removed many defiant pro-Palestinian protesters at several colleges, Australian protest sites have remained peaceful with minimal police presence.
